Golden goodbye

Legend McKeever bowing out in style at his final Games

Canadian para cross-country skier Brian McKeever won his 14th Paralympic gold medal in Chongli, Zhangjiakou, on Monday.

McKeever came out on top again in the men's long-distance classical technique vision-impaired race at Beijing 2022, clocking 55 min 36.7 sec, 3:17.7 ahead of second-place American Jake Adicoff.

With more events to come for McKeever, the 42-year-old is hoping to add more medals to his collection in what is his final Winter Paralympic Games appearance.

Typically humble, the veteran said he was delighted to simply have the chance to compete in Beijing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"All of us have been through a tough time-with the challenges over the past couple of years, especially the pandemic. In a sense, it is a miracle that we managed to get here," said McKeever, who won his first Paralympic gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games.

"I'm still hungry for this sport. We still compete against each other in the training sessions. It's always exciting. Today, I'm glad to have my guide (Russell Kennedy) skiing in front of me and the pace he set was great."

McKeever, though, admits he will call it quits after Beijing 2022 because of the punishment his body has taken through the decades.

"If it wasn't for good (physical) therapists, I wouldn't be standing here, so I think it is time (to retire)," he said. "My body is slowing down."

McKeever first tried skiing at the age of 3 and began competing as a 12-year-old. At age 19, he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye condition that also affected his father. Now, he has less than 10 percent vision.

Injuries have haunted him throughout his glorious career. In October 2008, he suffered a microfracture in his ribs. In March 2009, he broke his left humerus (upper arm) after crashing during the Canadian championships and his performances during the 2010/11 season were affected by a sinus and chest infection.

These days, competing hurts for McKeever, so he's looking forward to enjoying some recreational time on the slopes.

"I still love this. I still love getting out and training all the time with my teammates," McKeever said. "But I've got a lot of pain and it will be nice to take it easy a bit and get out skiing more for fun rather than as a job."

McKeever hopes to add two more gold medals in Beijing to tie equal the most-decorated Winter Paralympian, German para Alpine skier Gerd Schoenfelder.

"I'm just hoping to have good days, make a good plan, stick with it, and hope that it's good enough. That's all we can ask for," added McKeever. "If we win, we'll take it, if we're fourth (in the individual Paralympics gold-medal standings), then that's the beauty and the pain of sport, you just turn around and shake everybody else's hands because they beat you."

McKeever and his older brother, Robin McKeever, who represented Canada in cross-country skiing at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano and also served as McKeever's guide and coach, featured in a commercial during the Super Bowl in February.

"It's pretty crazy to be on a Super Bowl commercial. It's one of the biggest sports events in the world," McKeever said. "I've got a lot of messages from people with Stargardt and other eye diseases. Some of them even said that they didn't know anybody else with the same condition. Stories resonate, and it means a lot to know you have an impact on people."

As well as competing in six Winter Paralympic Games (2002, 2006,2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022), he also represented Canada as an able-bodied athlete in cross-country skiing at the 2007 world championships in Sapporo, Japan.

He was named Male Athlete of the Year for Winter Sports Performance at the 2018 Canadian Sport Awards. In 2016, Brian and his brother Robin received a Meritorious Service Medal from the governor-general of Canada in recognition of their sporting achievements.

Brian was the flagbearer for Canada at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang. He performed the same role at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City.

Xinhua